Morgantown, West Virginia – Senior Taz Sherman is off to a tremendous start to the 2021-2022 season, averaging 19.0 points, 3.6 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game for the West Virginia Mountaineers through 5 games. Sherman was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week following his outstanding performance at the Charleston Classic, where West Virginia finished in third place in the tournament.
However, one player on the Mountaineers is the literal heartbeat of the team. Despite not being a starter and not being a particularly effective offensive player, Gabe Osabuohien is without a doubt the most important player on the West Virginia Mountaineers this season.
Osabuohien, who is averaging 4.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks in 17.6 minutes per game, is an absolute rock for the team and the player that Bob Huggins can most rely on.
Although Osabuohien doesn’t provide flashy statistics, it’s all of the little things that he does that don’t show up in the box scores really matters. In addition to being “the anchor of the West Virginia defense”, according to Bob Huggins, he’s also one of the top players in the country at taking charges.
‘”For me to get real time, I knew I had to play defense and stuff like that,” Osabuohien says. “Once I did that, landing that time on the court and playing however many minutes I do is by playing hard. I stuck with it and kept being the guy that does the little stuff that nobody else wants to do if that was going to land me on the court.”
Last season, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein released his list of the “Top 10 Glue Guys in College Basketball” and Osabuohien was an obvious choice. This year, he’ll likely be at the very top of the list.
Rothstein said of Osabuohien: “Can a player be on this list and average 4 points a game? Yes, if that player is Osabuohien. The 6-7 forward is an elite defender with magical feet that allows him to cover ground all over the court. There are no 50-50 plays with Osabuohien on the floor — they’re 90/10 in favor of West Virginia.”
Osabuhoien, a redshirt senior, is unfortunately in his final season, but he is everything that West Virginia loves in one of its athletes – he’s a hard worker, the ultimate team player and the very definition of a true Mountaineer!
Who do you think is West Virginia’s most important player? Vote below!
Who is #WVUs Most Important Player?
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) November 24, 2021
